We’ve been in Berlin for a few days now.  On Tuesday we enjoyed a walking tour of the city with our private guide through With Locals.  Great way to see the city the way we wanted to and so nice not to be in a big tour group.  We walked about 8 miles that day but we saw so much.  Berlin is big and with the all the history on the East and West side it is hard not to rack up miles.  Declan got a pair of Birkenstocks on Tuesday as well so he says he is relating to the German Culture.  We tried Currywurst which is a dish of sausage, tomato sauce, paprika and curry. It was yummy. Not something I would make but if it was served I would happily eat it.  Some really need things we learned about the city is that all government buildings in East Berlin were destroyed by the war. They have rebuild some building to the way they were historically. All of the old buildings you can see where they have been patched from the damage of the wars. The wall may be gone for the most part but they have bricks in the ground that show where the wall was.  They also have these little brass squares in the sidewalk in front of the homes where people who were taken by the Nazis lived. It marks their name, birth date, date taken and where, and date murdered or released. This is for anyone they can trace back which is about 60,000 so far and plans for many more blocks to be placed.  What I think is so neat about Berlin is that they recognize all who where murdered - Jewish, Gypsys,  Homosexuals, and disabled children - each has their own memorial.  Also, when they speak about the Holocaust they say murdered, not killed, not died, flat out murdered. They don’t sugar coat it. They also go to great extent to educate the kids in the country about how, why, and what happened. 

Wednesday we traveled to the Aviation Museum.  It is about 30 miles outside of the city.  Took a train, and two busses to get there. They we had to walk about a half a mile to the air field.  Declan is an Aviation geek so he was in heaven.  There were lots of planes and military history but interestingly enough there was very little from WWII. We aren’t sure if much of it was destroyed or if they just don’t display it.  The are so open about WWII everywhere else we’ve been in the city I can’t imagine they would just skip over it here.  This place was really big and impressive but there was no one there.  Now that maybe because it is no where near the city.  We felt it was worth the travel and we had fun with the craziness to get there.  We enjoyed sushi for dinner.  I know so much for local food.  Not that there isn’t German food around but as much as there is there is also everything else.  Don’t worry, we’ve had brats, pretzels, and beer - that should cover the key food groups of Germany, right!